Daydream
by Sinead Rivka
Summary: .:Beast Wars:. Beast Wars authors at BWINT don't ask for much. They just get thrown into more and more strange situations all the time. Flames accepted and laughed at.
1. Chapter One

My Daydream

By: Sinead

Part One

There were quite a few unfamiliar scents wafting towards Rhinox. He snorted, clearing his nose of most of them, then drew in a fresh breath of air, only to stop without warning. The others crashed into him, complaining.

His answer, however, wasn't reassuring. "I smell something."

Dinobot snorted, and snapped, "How can you slagging smell anything other than this blasted swamp?!"

There was an unfamiliar chuckle, and footsteps towards them. Cheetor tensed, preparing for a fight, when a female voice said, "Calm down. I'm not going to harm you. Actually, quite the opposite. If you'll accept it, I'll help you as best that I can."

"Hnnnrrgh . . . What the Pit can a female do?!" Dinobot snarled, irritated and scared. "You're small. I can tell that by your voice. What would you have to offer?"

A soft, fleshed hand gently rested upon the tip of his snout, while anther held the bottom of his jaw softly. Her voice was close, and kind. "I have my eyesight, and I have faith in myself that I'll do the best that I can."

"Then can you see something for me?" Rhinox asked.

Dinobot felt the hands leave his face, and he stood in silence. This femme had strength, and a will. One that matched his own. But . . . "Wait, female. There are others of your kind around, is there not?"

A laugh, kind and warm, sounded, then an accented voice, different from the first, replied, "He's really getting that nose of his down, Sinead! Picked us right out!"

The first girl shook her head at her companion. "Sapphire, not now, please. Something's up." She touched Rhinox's shoulder, and asked, "What is it?"

"Something . . . sour-smelling. I don't know what it is, only that it's dry, and smells like death," the rhino replied quietly. "And it's to the left."

Sinead saw Cheetor under a tree, and leapt over Rhinox's shoulders, just as the snake dropped from the branches above. Drawing a wooden practice sword, Sinead smacked its tail, the closest thing to her. The boa constrictor's head reared up, and Sinead glared back into its slitted eyes. It struck, and with a yell, Sinead leapt to her left, swinging a hefty blow to the back of the snake's head. The group heard the distinct and audible crack as wood met bone.

The animal went limp. Sinead dug the _bokuto_ into the ground, tip-first. Sapphire then proceeded to pull the snake away from a damaged Cheetor. "Kid, can you breathe better?"

He groaned, and nodded slowly. Sinead blinked at the snake, then backed away. "Sapphire, clear off! I only stunned it!"

"What?!"

Sinead left the wooden sword where it was, then drew a _katana_ as long as her arm and backed away from the Maximals, careful to watch the snake's every movement. It released Cheetor, and followed her, this time striking low, by her feet. She yelled and jumped up, only to leap to her left and circle slowly in that same direction. She turned the sword around, so that the dull side would hit the snake. She struck just as it did.

The snake fell again.

This time, Sinead blinked at it closer. She groaned, and sighed. "I think I killed it."

"Make sure," Rattrap said quietly.

Sinead turned the blade again, and let it fall. She swung the _katana_ towards the ground, getting most of the blood off, and then finished cleaning it with a large leaf. Sheathing the weapon, she crouched by Cheetor, and rested her hand upon his ears. "Hey, you all right?"

"It . . . it hurts to breathe . . . and it's cold . . ."

Sinead rested her hand upon his side gently, feeling something grinding against something else each time he took a breath in. A soft voice asked, "Sinead? What happened?"

"A very _large_ and annoying snake happened," the swords-woman replied to the third girl in their group. "Rhinox, how much weight can you handle carrying upon your back?"

"Cheetor and one other shouldn't be a problem," he replied.

Sinead nodded, and said, "StarGazer, get up there. You're keeping the cat on his back. He has broken ribs, or something close to it. If he starts to slip, hold his shoulder, and one of us will help him back to a better position."

"Gotcha, Fearless Leader. Uh . . ." The blonde looked at the large beast mode. "How would I get on, again?"

"Carefully," a fourth voice said, putting her hands in a "ten-fingers" position. "Up you go."

Rhinox turned his head at the voice. "How many of you are there, and _what_ are you?"

Sinead picked Cheetor up carefully, but he still whimpered at the movement. Sinead sighed, then said, "Five, at the moment. The fifth should be at your base by now, telling your leader where about you should be." She managed to get Cheetor upon Rhinox's back, with StarGazer helping her. She then winced, seeing a nasty gash just under the technician's ear. "And we're humans."

Dinobot snarled. "Wonderful. You're even smaller than I first thought."

StarGazer snickered, but Sinead cut her off from saying a rather _nasty_ comment, with, "Say it, and you'll be wishing that you were a better swimmer."

"Aww, but don't you wanna see the look on his face?"

"Not really. Pacerpaw, you lead the way with Rhinox. Sapphire, you help guide Rattrap. I'll be watching the rear."

"And what, pray, will happen to _me_?" Dinobot hissed.

Sinead took his hand, leading him after the others. "You'll be with me, of course."

The waterfall was larger than Sinead had estimated. StarGazer winced at the height, as Rhinox said, "Whew. We made it."

Dinobot blinked, then yelled back, "What did you say?!"

"I said we made it to the waterfall!"

"What a . . . _startling_ revelation!"

Sinead chuckled quietly at the sarcasm, and then said, "There's a log that goes across! Pacerpaw's already checked it out, and it should be strong enough to hold you!"

Rattrap started over, just to double-check. He reached the Swedish woman at the other end, and then called over, "Hey guys! It's good!"

As the Maximals started over, Sinead looked to Sapphire and StarGazer, who had lessened the weight upon Rhinox's back in order for him to cross. "Things are different than I thought."

The currently-leading young woman sighed, then said, "I certainly hope so. Because if they aren't, then that means that . . . oh, no. No! Get off of the log! MOVE!!! GET OFF!!!"

A missile hit the cliff under their end of the log, causing chips of rock spraying everywhere. Sinead rushed to the edge, just in time to see the Maximals and the log fall into the spray. StarGazer grabbed her arm, and then said, "You're _not_ diving after them! You'd die!"

"What makes you think that I'll do that?!" Sinead yelled back. She looked over at Pacerpaw, whose face was distraught. Cupping her hands around her mouth, she yelled over, "Can you get to the other side?"

"Yeah!"

"Safely?"

"Sure! Honest, Sinead!"

"Alright! We're going after them!"

Pacerpaw nodded, and then started to get to the other side of the waterfall. StarGazer blinked after Sinead. "Woah, wait! What's this 'we' thing?!"

The Maximals made it to the shore. Dinobot growled, then said, "What a way for a warrior to go out: Wet, blind _and_ helpless!"

Rhinox coughed, and then said, "We-we're not finished yet!"

Something snapped within the Velociraptor. "Spare me your eternal optimism! Waspinator will be back, this time!"

Sinead and Sapphire ran ahead, wearing one sword each, while StarGazer had offered to carry the other weapons and lag behind. However, each also had upon their person quite a few daggers and throwing stars. Sapphire pointed to four dark shapes on the other side of the river, about fifty feet ahead. Sinead stopped running, and then gasped, "What do you think?"

"Swim to the other side?"

"Current?"

"It'll bring us closer to them either way."

"That was my thoughts. Let's do it."

Wading in and feeling the current tug at their legs, the two swords-women secured their short swords, and then started swimming for the other side. Ten minutes later, they were twenty feet further downstream than the Maximals, and sopping wet. Boots squelching and overflowing with water, they ran back up to the four warriors, panting.

Rhinox blinked. "You didn't fall off, too, did you?"

Sinead shook her head, then remembered that they couldn't see. "No." Catching her breath, she added, "Climbed down . . . ran . . . swam across . . . whoo!"

Something shot by overhead. Sapphire turned in time to see it. "It's those two goons. Crap!"

Dinobot was beginning to shake with the combination of exhaustion, cold, and the realization that he might actually get killed. Something wet spattered his snout, shocking him, and he heard a quiet hiss right by his ear, "Don't give up."

He closed his eyes, and then nodded silently. Little did he know, that Rattrap was just as terrified as he was, and being silently comforted, again, just like he was, only by Sapphire. Sinead patted Dinobot's shoulder, then moved on to Cheetor. "C'mon, up on your paws, kitten."

"'M not a kitten," the cheetah mumbled.

"You're acting like one, moping like this. You're not going to get anywhere unless you help yourself right this instant. You'll be fine. Just get out of the water."

Rhinox heard both her words to Dinobot and to Cheetor, then said, "Sinead, Sapphire, this is our fight. Hide."

Sinead looked to her sister-in-spirit, then sighed. "All right."

"What the slag to you mean, 'this is our fight'?!" Dinobot screeched. "We can't see!"

Rhinox shook his head, and Sinead patted Dinobot's snout again, wetting it further. "He has a plan. We'll be over here."

The Maximals transformed, and, under Rhinox's instruction, managed to take out the two fliers. Sapphire ran out with a cry, catching Rattrap as he fell, but couldn't reach Cheetor in time. Sinead managed to ease Dinobot to the ground, trying not to let her knees buckle with supporting his considerable metal weight. Rhinox's voice was breathless. "Transforming speeded up the contamination process . . . they're in Stasis Lock!"

Hearing jets far off, but growing closer, Rhinox transformed, seeing no other option. "Stay down!"

A voice drifted through the fog, just as Rhinox was starting to place the flier's position. "Rhinox!"

"Optimus!" The large Maximal lowered his chaingun. "I knew you'd . . . you'd come . . ."

Optimus caught his old friend, lowering him to the sands and activating his commlink all in one motion. "Optimus to Tigatron and Airazor! Code X!"

Sinead looked at the leader, as the two scouts locked onto their co-ordinates. Finally, he looked over to the two humans, each sitting next to at least one of his warriors. Sinead was sitting between Dinobot and Cheetor, while Sapphire was beside Rattrap. He sighed. "Thank you. Your friend, Nurannoniel, was it? She's on top of the cliff. She knows the way back to the base."

"You can't take all these guys back at once," Sinead pointed out.

Optimus sighed, then nodded. "You're right."

Pacerpaw, Tigatron, Airazor, and Nurannoniel skidded down the side of the cliff carefully, just as StarGazer yelled from across the river. "Yo! Am I all alone here?! Leaders aren't supposed to forget their second-in-command!"

Sinead turned, and yelled back, "I wish I could, though! You're thoroughly annoying!"

"It's my job!"

Optimus chuckled. "That sounds about right. I'll bring her over, so she can help out."

"We can't leave her there?" Sinead asked in a mock-whining tone.

Optimus laughed outright, relief flooding over him as he took off, then came back with a wincing StarGazer. "I hate heights. I hate heights. I hate heights. I HATE HEIGHTS!!!"

"We've established that, thanks," Nurannoniel said tartly. "How about helping out?"

StarGazer shrugged. "Sure. What do you need done?"

Sinead rolled her eyes, and said, "Help someone carry someone."

". . . huh?"

Optimus and his scouts placed the bulkiest weapons in their subspace pockets so that the humans could help out easier. Tigatron reverted to his beast mode, and StarGazer and Sinead draped Cheetor over his back. Then, Optimus and Airazor took off with Rhinox, who had taken on more damage than even Cheetor had. Nurannoniel and Sinead each took one of Dinobot's arms over their shoulders. They waited as Pacerpaw and Sapphire did the same with Rattrap, who was obviously a _much_ lighter burden. Finally, they all set off, following Nurannoniel, who knew the way.


	2. Chapter Two

My Daydream

By: Sinead

Part Two

Dinobot blinked in the sudden light, once the CR chamber door opened. Directly in front of him was a human. She was facing away from him, looking through maps of the surrounding area. Her short auburn hair was pulled back into a tiny ponytail, with a _lot_ of hair around her face not reaching the back of her head. The ex-Predacon decided that would be the ideal topic-starter, since he had no clue who this human girl was.

"Why the Pit would you even try to pull your hair back, even when you know that there's no chance it will all reach the same area?" he snarled irritably, walking to her left side.

She turned calmly to blink up at him, stormy blue eyes amused. "Gee. I can tell that _you're_ a morning person."

He blinked. "You're Sinead, then."

She smiled warmly, nodding. "You recognized my voice!"

He cleared his throat, then nodded in return. "I . . . would like to thank you, for what you did for us."

Sinead's smile faded into a more subdued version, still happy, but more . . . mature, if you will. "You don't have to thank me, you know."

Dinobot looked at the map, then at the young woman before him again. "But I slagging _do_. That snake, the second attack . . . everything could have ended for us."

"You could have done it on your own, and that's what we were planning to let happen. But then Rhinox smelled us, and I thought that it would be better to help out, than stand by and watch." She blinked, then added, "Besides. Seeing someone in absolute misery is horrible. I _had_ to help in some way. I'm just like that."

"You're a slagging leader, that's why," Dinobot grumbled. He reached over, and ruffled the free pieces of Sinead's hair gently, then said, "But I wanted to thank you, personally, since I _was_ ready to give up then and there."

His hand slid to rest upon her shoulder, and she looked up into his wary face. With a smile, she replied, "Then I accept your thanks, and you're more than welcome. On the other hand, you don't have to pay me back for it."

"Why?"

"Optimus put me in your room."

"WHAT?!"

Nurannoniel glanced at Optimus, then said, "I think that Dinobot found out about the sleeping arrangements."

Footsteps steadily pounded angrily towards the control room, and Dinobot stormed in, snarling, "You're slagging right, I did! What the Pit is this slag about me sharing a room with a slagging female about?!"

Rattrap looked up from his game of cards with Sapphire. "And 'ya problem is? She's a cool kid. I offered ta share a room with 'er, but she gave me one of dose _looks_ . . . an' _den_ . . . uh . . . I'm sharin' a room with Sapph."

"But it's my. Slagging. ROOM!"

Sinead caught up, panting, and said, "I didn't touch anything!"

"I didn't say you did! It's the fact that you were stationed in my quarters without my permission that's slagging annoying me!" Dinobot fairly roared.

Sinead smacked his arm. "Knock it off. You're acting like a spoiled two-year-old."

The room went silent. Rattrap blinked at the girl, then looked to Sapphire, who was covering a grin, barely keeping her laughter in. Dinobot's glare down to Sinead fazed her not one bit. She just blinked up at him, saying in a dull tone, "What? You are."

"You . . ." was all that Dinobot could manage to say, before growling pure frustration and irritation, then storming back off to lock himself into this room.

Rattrap waited until he heard the door slam, then said, "Well. Dat went well."

Sapphire, StarGazer, and Cheetor burst into laughter, as Sinead winced. "I _really_ hated saying that."

"Did you see his face?!" StarGazer asked, laughing until tears came.

Nurannoniel was biting her lip. The lift came up, with a shocked Rhinox looking at Sinead. "That was either very brave, or very stupid."

Sinead swallowed. "I'd vote for 'very stupid.' I'm used to talking to my friends like that. Bad idea talking to _him_ like that."

Optimus shook his head. "Give him an hour to cool down, then go get your stuff. I'll see if I can find you somewhere suitable to stay."

Just to be on the safe side, Sinead went an hour-and-a-half later. Knocking upon Dinobot's door timidly, she wondered what his response would be to her coming to his door. There was no answer. She knocked again, then heard the growling sigh. "What."

"'S me. I'm getting my stuff. Optimus is looking for a spare room I can stay in."

The door opened, and Dinobot looked down his nose at her. She swallowed. "And I'm sorry about saying that to you. Bad tact and timing."

Dinobot snorted. "Slagging straight. And don't bother moving your stuff. It hardly takes up a corner. Just don't touch anything that doesn't belong to you."

Sinead looked into his room, and to the right, where she saw her cot still standing, swords still in one piece, and two books and her sketchbook without signs of teeth or talons. She blinked up at him. "Are you sure?"

He nodded, then indicated her sketchbook. "But you'd better not let the others grab hold of _that_."

"Why? They've all seen it."

"The last drawing, perhaps?"

"Oh, they haven't seen that one. I was on watch and got bored."

"So you drew me."

"Your face, by the best I could do by memory alone."

"Why the Pit did Optimus put you on watch duty?" Dinobot grumbled.

Sinead leaned against the doorframe, and said, "He didn't. Cheetor was falling asleep, so I took over for him."

Dinobot moved to one side, then said, "So you've seen everything in my room, hn?"

She shrugged. "Only everything that can be seen from standing in the middle of the room, and not touching anything. I told you that I didn't touch anything of yours."

Dinobot sighed. "I didn't mean to lose my temper with you. I'm sorry."

Rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment, Sinead replied, "Look, I'm not the best at keeping my own temper in line, so don't worry about it. This time." She grinned. "Or I'll draw incriminating pictures of you and hang them around the base."

The Maximal blinked at her in shock, and she grinned evilly up at him. Dropping to his beast mode, he snickered, and replied, "That so?"

Laughing, Sinead took off, reaching the command center and hiding behind StarGazer moments before Dinobot entered. StarGazer's brown eyes widened, and she hissed, "What did you do?!"

"Nothing!"

"Hah! _There_ you are!"

Sinead switched to hide beside Rhinox. He blinked down at her, just as she was sticking her tongue out at the Raptor. Chuckling, he shook his head, and continued his conversation with Pacerpaw. Dinobot snorted, and then turned, saying over his shoulder, "You owe me a dagger for that."

"Uwaah?! Hey! You so much as _glance_ at my daggers, you'll find yourself becoming a pincushion before you could even blink!"

"Try me, human!"

StarGazer barked a laugh. "Should we have you two on twenty-four hour supervision?"

Dinobot turned to aim a deadly glare at the blonde. Sinead punched her shoulder lightly, then said, "You are _so_ not right in the head."

"Hey, he set himself up for that one!"

"Like _I_ care! Will you behave?!"

"Nope!"

"Oh, you are _so_ going down."

Dinobot opened his door, getting back to his room from his watch. He looked to the right, and saw Sinead, still sitting up with a pencil in her right hand, and her sketchbook still upon her lap. She was leaning against the wall, asleep.

With a smile, he entered and closed the door, then gently took the pencil, and placed it upon his desk. He tried to do the same with the sketchbook, but her fingers tightened, and her eyes opened with a jerk, only to see Dinobot. She let go of the book, still mainly asleep, and wrapped her arms around his neck, apparently falling _back_ asleep. Swallowing, and without moving too much, Dinobot placed the sketchbook upon the desk as well, then carefully moved so that he could lay Sinead down without waking her up. She sighed, and tried to hold something close to her. The warrior pressed his hand gently against hers, palm against palm, and she sighed heavily, falling back into a deep rest.

Pulling his hand away, he smiled, recognizing that she most likely had a favorite toy that she would hold onto while traveling into slumber. Opening his closet door, he pulled out a human stuffed toy that had been given to him from an old romantic interest. He was lucky that he still had it after all these years.

Sinead instantly curled up around the soft-furred toy that was placed in her arms. Dinobot pulled the blanket up and around her, then laid upon his own bed and powered down.

Yawning, Sinead sat up, seeing the sun starting to rise. Scratching her hair sleepily, she looked back at the bed, debating whether or not she should fall back asleep . . . when she saw the stuffie. "A teddy bear?"

Dinobot shifted faintly in his slumber, catching Sinead's attention. She picked the stuffed animal up, hugged it close to her chest, then walked over to the sleeping Maximal. The five-foot-four-inch teenager was completely dwarfed by the nearly-eight-foot Cybertronian, and knew that with one careless move she'd find herself unintentionally knocked through a wall. So she got ready to duck or jump away if he thrashed out upon waking.

"Dinobot?"

Jumping awake, he drew a dagger and sat up in one swift, fluid movement. Seeing his new roommate, he slipped it back into its bedside scabbard, then rubbed at his forehead with the back of his hand. "Dawn already?"

Sinead nodded, then held the bear out. "Thanks. I'm used to sleeping with something."

He gently pushed the toy back at her. "I have no need for it." Looking off to one side, then back at Sinead, he said quietly, "But please don't tell anyone that I had it."

She laughed, and shook her head. "The thought didn't even cross my mind! Don't worry about it. Secrets are safe with me. Besides. I've never had a genuine teddy bear before. It's cute."

The door slammed open, and Nurannoniel turned Sinead around to face her. "Starath's here! Oh. Cute bear. Where'd you get it?"

"Starath's here?!" Sinead asked, tossing the bear to her cot, ignoring the second half of Nurannoniel's rant. "Where?"

"Tell you when you tell me about the bear."

Sinead blinked, then said, "You didn't see it in the bag I brought?"

"You didn't _open_ your bag around any of us."

Sinead shrugged. "So I have a soft spot for teddy bears, okay?"

"Starath's outside. With Megs."

"Aah, crap!"

"He's asking for a truce. The humans can't survive in their base," Optimus said, filling Sinead in. "Right now, I'm wondering whether or not he's planning something."

Sinead looked at Dinobot, then to StarGazer and Sapphire. With a shrug, she replied, "Most likely. Who else is here? Any other names?"

"A 'Miss Special'?" Rattrap said warily. "She's slagging hanging off of Inferno."

Laughing, Sinead nodded. "Typical of her to go after a pyromaniac! Yeah, we know her."

"Wayward, who likes Waspy, an' a Darkfire who likes Terrorsaur?"

StarGazer grinned. "I've seen Wayward's artwork! She's cool. And Dark? She's insanely cool. And great. Both of them are, actually."

Sapphire looked out the window at the Predacons. "Lady Venom and Lady Scare aren't here yet, but we expected that."

"If Megs _is_ planning something, Starath would tell us," Sinead said slowly. Sapphire just looked at her. The leader sighed. "Okay, we _hope_ that she'll tell us, if Megatron's gotten to know her yet. If not, she would most likely listen to him, in order for him to trust her. So that places her as more than likely fiercely loyal to Barney. Can't quite understand why."

"Who'll talk to them, representing the humans?" Rhinox asked, looking at Optimus.

The Maximal leader sighed. "Sinead, you have your swords ready?"

"Only my broadsword. The _katana_ and the _wakizashi_ are still in Dinobot's room."

"Good enough. Come on."

Starath was bouncing from one foot to the other, barely containing her enthusiasm. The lift lowered, and she blinked at the human there, walking forward as it hit the ground. She was watching warily for any hostile movements with an experienced eye.

Starath was about to speed forward, and launch herself at Sinead for a hug when hand held her back. She sighed. "Fine, I'll stay put, Megatron."

"Good. Now, Primal, what are _your_ conditions?"

"I'm not sure if I'm the one you should be talking to," Optimus replied. "After all, this concerns mainly the humans. _And_ quite possibly limited space in the base. So ask Sinead."

Starath bounded towards the other human, and managed to knock her over, laughing. Optimus was about to rip her off, when he saw Sinead hugging her back, smiling. "Sis, it's been forever!"

Starath was laughing too hard to reply, so Sinead sat up, and then started laughing as well. "If you squeeze any harder, I'll pop! Starath!"

"But you said when we meet you'd give me a hug!"

Still laughing, Sinead said, "I wasn't planning upon being knocked over!"

"All the more fun!"

Optimus blinked at them in confusion, then over to Megatron, who was looking just as baffled. Sinead freed one arm to wave over at Miss Special, who called over, "How's the living space?"

"Could be better, could be worse! Don't annoy the local Raptor!"

"Dangit, but why not? It's fun annoying people!"

"I was almost killed last night, that's why!" Sinead replied, grinning. "Twice!"

Megatron walked over, then said, "Ahem, Starath . . ."

The smaller human blinked up at him guiltily. "Uh, I, uh . . . sorry."

Sinead was finally able to get to her feet, as Starath sat back. She turned, and held her hand out to the slightly-older girl, and said, "Gee, you're a party-pooper, Megatron." Starath took the outstretched hand, and was helped to her feet. Sinead turned to blink calmly up at the Predacon tyrant. "So, when's your apology . . . ?"

"Apology? What the Pit do I need an apology for?!"

Dinobot joined his leader and Sinead, but said nothing, as the others came out behind him. Sinead glanced at him, then up at Megatron, replying, "Because you ruined Starath's good mood, that's why. And if you don't apologize, I'll do many painful things to you that would make you wish that you had."

Megatron snorted, sighed, and finally growled, "Very well. I apologize. Now. About this truce, yes."

"What were your terms?" Sinead asked, all business, now.

"Cease-fire and access to come and visit our humans as often as we please."

She looked to Optimus. "You have any conditions?"

"I'd _prefer_ if the Predacons wouldn't enter the base. That and announcing when they're coming to visit, as Megatron put it," Optimus said.

Sinead nodded, but her voice took on an even more stern note than Optimus' had. "I'll agree to that. Also, though, here are _my_ conditions: Unless otherwise specified, if they're busy doing something or asleep, then you'll either wait, or go back to your base to visit later. Condition two: I'll not shove anyone out the door if they don't want to be. And a cease-fire upon the Predacons' behalf would be nice."

Megatron mulled this over, then nodded once. "Agreed."

Starath squeaked, and jumped to hug Sinead again, who hugged her back. "Hey, go meet the others! Nurann's ready to burst if you don't say 'hi' to her!"

Starath sped off, and Sinead's happy facade shifted suddenly to a dark, angry glare. "And if I _ever_ hear that you've hurt her in any way, shape, or form, you'll be answering to me, and to me alone, Megatron."

Something in those dark eyes made him believe her. By Primus, did he believe her.

Sinead was out walking with Dinobot on his patrol, later that morning. He looked at her. "You scared Optimus this morning."

"Huh? How?" she asked, looking up from a flower that she had picked. It resembled a daisy.

"That mood swing. You were like a slagging child, but you turned into a murderer." Dinobot sighed, and then looked at her square in the eyes. "He wanted me to ask you how and why that happened."

Sinead answered straightforwardly. "How? Why? Simple. Megatron acts like my father in some ways. I can't stand it. I was holding my anger back, so that Starath wouldn't see how furious I really was at the fact that he had suppressed her innocent happy mood. She's like a sister to me, and I feel like I should protect her."

Dinobot sighed, then nodded. "I figured as much, and said so to Primal, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"Aah, don't worry about it. I should tell him myself, really."

Nodding, Dinobot continued walking. Sinead walked beside him, feeling almost complete for the first time in months. It was a good feeling.


	3. Chapter Three

My Daydream

By: Sinead

Part Three

"WILL YOU WAKE UP?! JEESH!!!"

Snorting and jerking up, Sinead yawned. "Whaa?"

"We're at school, you dope. You slept all way from Braintree to here."

"You're kidding, StarGazer."

"Nope."

Sinead yawned again, then looked around. They were just pulling into the driveway of the school. _Was it all a dream? Yeah, most likely. Pity._

As they walked off of the bus and across the parking lot, Sinead looked through the swirling snow to see quite a few figures just standing in the middle of the driveway that split off of the main driveway and into the student's parking lot. Squinting as they walked forward, she saw that there were numerous smaller figures who all bundled up as she and StarGazer were.

Then . . . was it . . . really . . . ?

One of the smallest figures broke away from the group, laughing, to embrace Sinead, who laughed as well, and embraced her back. "Starath!"

"As always, sis! Who else would I be?"

Walking back with the author to the group, she looked up at her favorite, whose glare lessened slightly, then briefly flashed into a smile, before returning to the usual scowl. Sinead nodded to her Principal, who said, "You'll be having tagalongs today. Do you mind?"

"Me?" Sinead asked, smiling. "Not at all! Who's hungry for breakfast?"

In the lunchroom, the humans dismantled their layers of winter-wear to swarm to the food area. Sinead opened her bag to put her Diskman away, when she saw a stuffed toy occupying the space where the Diskman generally was. Pulling it out, she looked at the furry, light brown teddy bear. Nurannoniel was the first back, and she looked over Sinead's shoulder at the toy. StarGazer came over as well, then asked, "What's that?"

Nurannoniel's jaw dropped. "That's the teddy bear you brought with you!"

Snapping her head around to look at the Canadian, Sinead asked, "What?!"

StarGazer blinked at the two of them, then said, "It wasn't a dream?"

"If it was, we all dreamt it together," Nurannoniel replied softly.

Sinead looked down at the bear in her hand, then looked over at Dinobot, who was glaring down at Rattrap yet again. As if he knew she was thinking of him, the Maximal looked up at her, then down at the bear in her hold. He blinked, and straightened, his face showing his disbelief. Not caring who saw, Sinead ran over to him and wrapped her arms around his torso, burying her face in his lower chest. She felt his arms circle her shoulders gently as well, then felt his sigh. "So you _are_ her. I was worried that . . ."

"I didn't think that you knew me," Sinead whispered. "That I'd have to start all over again with getting to know you."

Dinobot chuckled, then said, "Get your food. You're hungry, and both of us know it."

Smiling up at her favorite, the author did so, but without letting go of the bear. Maybe it would be a good day after all.


End file.
